Vulnerability Multiplied in Syria: Report on the Survivors of Explosive Devices, June 2017

Over the course of 2016, the conflict in Syria escalated significantly, with devastating consequences for the population caught up in the midst of what has become a protracted civil war. Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR Japan) has conducted outreach activities in northern Syria in 2016 with over 2,000 men, women and children that sustained injury and impairment as hostilities intensified. Almost 60 per cent of these were wounded in airstrikes, with over half of these incidents occurring in a four-month period between July and October.

Many survivors suffered from severe multiple injuries, including complex fractures, penetration or trauma wounds, having been struck by ballistic fragments or crushed under collapsed buildings. Despite the very serious nature of these injuries, including the loss of limbs, permanent paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries or sensory impairment, many of the wounded have been unable to access adequate medical care. Almost a quarter of those facing these life changing injuries are children under the age of 18.